An analytical study of the composition of Roman coarse wares from the fort of Bryn y Gefeiliau (caer llugwy) in Snowdonia

The results of typological, petrographic, heavy mineral and trace element analyses are presented and discussed for 11 potsherds from the Roman fort at Bryn y Gefeiliau, Snowdonia. Each analytical technique was found to have its limitations and advantages, but the combined results provided a satisfactory basis for the grouping of the sherds, and also information concerning the provenances of the component materials. Certain sherds contained constituents compatible with a Snowdonian source whilst others contained materials of extraneous origin. The archaeological implications of these results are discussed, in particular the possibility that there was transport of unworked clay as well as finished pots into Snowdonia.     

Urban commons are more‐than‐property

Urban commons are characterised in the literature as collectively shared property in the city shaped by a context of scarce resources, population density, and the interaction of strangers. In the broader commons literature, commons appears as a verb, a noun, and a process made by practices of commoning—albeit still with a focus on property. In this paper, I argue that an understanding of urban commons as more‐than‐property is needed to recognise how present but elusive urban commons are. I use examples from interviews and observations conducted at a Women's Library to discuss how the access, use, benefit, care, responsibility, and ownership of this urban commons bring it into being through particular practices of commoning. By questioning current ways of defining urban commons, urban scholars gain a grounded understanding of the role of property, and other practices, in maintaining an urban commons over time.     

‘Unlawful Warfare is Uncivilised’: The International Debate on the Punishment of War Crimes, 1872–19181

The issue of the punishment of war crimes has had a long history of debate in the twentieth and even already in the twenty-first century. Not much, however, is known about the debate on the issue before and during the First World War. This article tries to explore the debate among Western European jurists and publicists on the issue in the period between 1872 and 1918, linking it to the idea of civilised behaviour in wartime, as many jurists and publicists of the time believed that civilised states would in general not violate the laws of war. If that was nevertheless the case these violations were considered to be the consequence of an uncivilised behaviour, which was the more problematic the more the power concerned had been considered a part of the international community of civilised states. Crimes committed by nations that had been considered fully civilised before 1914 were therefore highlighted in the debate, whereas crimes committed in so-called semi-civilised or uncivilised areas of the world were only taken up if specific political or propagandistic reasons made it seem appropriate.     

How Political Support Influences Red Tape through Developmental Culture

This study examines the interrelationship between external political support, internal organizational factors, and red tape, using a sample of information managers from state health and human service agencies. The study defines a red tape model and tests the model by structural equation modeling method. The study finds that political support has a direct effect on red tape. The higher the political support, the lower the level of red tape. The study also confirms an indirect effect of political support on red tape, mediated by developmental culture. Indirect effect through goal clarity has the correct sign but is not statistically significant. Practical recommendations are made for the political environment to provide the opportunity for managerial reforms that are often advocated.     

Governing urban regeneration in the UK: a case of ‘variegated neoliberalism’ in action?

The article focuses on the redevelopment of previously developed land by public-private sector partnerships in three cities/towns in South-West England, two of which can be described as medium-sized places with little previous experience of such developments. In each case we situated the redevelopment process in its wider multi-level and horizontal relationships using Social Network Analysis to produce network and centrality maps to reveal the complex network of relationships the process was embedded within and shaped by. These developments took place in what is termed the ‘roll-out’ phase of neoliberalism and we illustrate how the overarching planning and regulatory regimes (including contracts), along with wider economic conditions, shaped the development process, with the proviso that in each case these factors were mediated and themselves shaped by the assortment and interaction of local organizational, political, economic and civic forces. These included local planning committees and their interpretation of planning regulations and the developers involved, but also opposition to the developments from local sources. Much, however, depended on the ‘capacity to act’ of the relevant partnerships, in the sense of mobilizing and deploying available resources to realize the proposed developments.     

Credibility in Policy Expertise: The Function of Boundaries Between Research and Policy

As science becomes an increasingly crucial resource for addressing complex challenges in society, extensive demands are placed upon the researchers who produce it. Creating valuable expert knowledge that intervenes in policy or practice requires knowledge brokers to facilitate interactions at the boundary between research and policy. Yet, existing research lacks a compelling account of the ways in which brokerage is performed to gain credibility. Drawing on mixed‐method analysis of 12 policy research settings, I outline a novel set of strategies for attaining symbolic power, whereby policy experts position themselves and others via conceptual distances drawn between the “world of ideas” and the “world of policy and practice.” Disciplinary distance works to situate research as either disciplinary or undisciplinary, epistemic distance creates a boundary between complex specialist research and direct digestible outputs, temporal distance represents the separation of slow rigorous research and agile responsive analysis, and economic distance situates research as either pure and intrinsic or marketable and fundable. I develop a theoretical account that unpacks the boundaries between research communities and shows how these boundaries permit policy research actors to achieve various strategic aims.